What's up with arbitrage

[alani123]

Has anyone in been observing this craze lately? Basically certain exchanges will have consistent price differences with other major ones. I'm not talking Bitfinex, which is probably done for, but pretty much all else known to be reliable exchanges.

I'm wondering, isn't there any pressure to close such gaps in the price? it's really a good chance for traders to profit with arbitrage but I really can't fathom how those gaps remain open for hours.

[BitHodler]

It looks easier than it in reality is. In most cases people struggle with the strict verification policies of exchanges, where they get demotivated due to all the negative aspects connected to that.

Aside from that we also have the markets that go up and down in such a quick fashion, that by the time you plan to strike, the opportunity has already vanished, where you have money stuck on whatever exchange.

Money that you could have used to benefit from whatever price swing this market is generously throwing with. That of course doesn't mean that no one is doing it, but if the mass jumped on it, the differences were gone already.

Incentive isn't really there.

[Mi5h0]

There will always be arbitrage opportunities across markets. There are several things to consider, though:
- Prices can go up or down between buying and selling time
- Bitcoin transaction fees are huge (especially for small transactions)

All in all a lot of things to think about. If you think you can profit from it, go for it!

[cynical]

just yesterday i noticed almost a 100% difference in SIA between bittrex and hitbit.
There are always opportunities in arbitrage but as mentioned there are hidden pitfalls primarily to do with bitcoin,
ie. Fees and transaction times.

[alani123]

just yesterday i noticed almost a 100% difference in SIA between bittrex and hitbit.
There are always opportunities in arbitrage but as mentioned there are hidden pitfalls primarily to do with bitcoin,
ie. Fees and transaction times.

I think that altcoin markets are trading with smaller volumes so if a coin is listed in many exchanges differences in price can be a normal thing. I'm posting in this subforum though because I'm talking about bitcoin to fiat pairs. With those markets having the biggest volumes consistently, it's really interesting to see them having big differences in price.

[squatz1]

Arb is something which looks like a lot of money can be made on the surface, but if you are to really look into it you'd see that the profits are hard to come by and insanely risky to try to chase. For one thing, if you are to buy coins from one exchange and send them to another -- you're going to get raped by tx fees,  confirmation times, and the volatility of bitcoin within the change.

You're also going to have to get confirmed with your identity docs on these exchanges -- which isn't open to most of the USA (bitfinex)

SO yeah, it looks good but it isn't.

[dothebeats]

It looks easier than it in reality is. In most cases people struggle with the strict verification policies of exchanges, where they get demotivated due to all the negative aspects connected to that.

Aside from that we also have the markets that go up and down in such a quick fashion, that by the time you plan to strike, the opportunity has already vanished, where you have money stuck on whatever exchange.

Verification is indeed the hardest part in getting started with your arbitraging journeys. The long and arduous path on getting verified in different exchanges is already tiring, what more the waiting process? The market movement also is very unpredictable, resulting into failed attempts before even starting to execute your orders, so yep, most traders don't even dare trying to arbitrage anymore.

Incentive isn't really there.

I beg to disagree. The huge price gaps are the ]incentives these traders are looking at, but because of your first point, not many people are daring to try.

[error08]

If you already have 2 verified account on 2 different exchanges which allows you to deposit or withdraw a fiat currency, it's possible to do arbitrage trading. But, the most common problem are: Bitcoin transactions require high fees and may takes hours to be confirmed, exchanges has high fees for withdraw fiat currency or send bitcoin. Hence, you need big capital to earn profits.

[lenj]

It looks easier than it in reality is. In most cases people struggle with the strict verification policies of exchanges, where they get demotivated due to all the negative aspects connected to that.

Aside from that we also have the markets that go up and down in such a quick fashion, that by the time you plan to strike, the opportunity has already vanished, where you have money stuck on whatever exchange.

Money that you could have used to benefit from whatever price swing this market is generously throwing with. That of course doesn't mean that no one is doing it, but if the mass jumped on it, the differences were gone already.

Incentive isn't really there.

Yes its true. Most of trader get struggling with verification.
But how if trader pass it? I think the most problem is when we send the altcoin to other exchange. It will take longer in busy blockchain and make the price move lower and ending with loss.

[cicciobtc]

It's really complicated to do arbitrage.
It is necessary to have many funds divided on various exchanges.
Also at this moment unfortunately the fees to transfer btc are very high and limit this opportunity.

[Partizanai]

i have made my fair share of income from arbitrage yet not always i succeeded to gain profit from it

[wagi]

Has anyone in been observing this craze lately? Basically certain exchanges will have consistent price differences with other major ones. I'm not talking Bitfinex, which is probably done for, but pretty much all else known to be reliable exchanges.

I'm wondering, isn't there any pressure to close such gaps in the price? it's really a good chance for traders to profit with arbitrage but I really can't fathom how those gaps remain open for hours.

No i have not observed recently. So i do know that they have consistent price differences.
Actually i have done before around 2 weeks but the differences price not so often between exchanger so i decide to stop this strategy.

[Victorycoin]

If you already have 2 verified account on 2 different exchanges whichTV allows you to deposit or withdraw a fiat currency, it's possible to do arbitrage trading. But, the most common problem are: Bitcoin transactions require high fees and may takes hours to be confirmed, exchanges has high fees for withdraw fiat currency or send bitcoin. Hence, you need big capital to earn profits.

That happens to be the true picture of things as having verified accounts and some substantial amounts in a number of exchanges would have been a way out of the disagreeable situations, but the exhobitant withdrawal fees being charged by most exchanges leaves little to be desired.

One might want to guide against leaving  significant amounts of fund with exchanges because that has been turning out undoing traders and investors  than even ponzi schemes.

[otol55]

Has anyone in been observing this craze lately? Basically certain exchanges will have consistent price differences with other major ones. I'm not talking Bitfinex, which is probably done for, but pretty much all else known to be reliable exchanges.

I'm wondering, isn't there any pressure to close such gaps in the price? it's really a good chance for traders to profit with arbitrage but I really can't fathom how those gaps remain open for hours.

which I know usually the price gap occurs due to late delivery in transactions. or it could be a wallet in maintenance so the price gap between different markets for several hours.

[AntoCokbun]

Has anyone in been observing this craze lately? Basically certain exchanges will have consistent price differences with other major ones. I'm not talking Bitfinex, which is probably done for, but pretty much all else known to be reliable exchanges.

I'm wondering, isn't there any pressure to close such gaps in the price? it's really a good chance for traders to profit with arbitrage but I really can't fathom how those gaps remain open for hours.

for me arbitration is a thing that has a big risk we can lose our money if we do not think about it because we need a considerable difference between the market one and other markets in addition to arbitration also takes a lot of transaction costs.

[Pursuer]

when you are talking about arbitrage based on bitcoin price differences in different places, it will always come down to fiat deposits. I have actually checked this out and without an exception whenever there is a huge difference and you think you can make a good profit (for example $2500 difference between bitstamp and yobit these days) the reason is because of the way fiat deposit and withdrawals works. bitstamp has bank transfer but yobit has random stuff with high % fees.

same is true with bitfinex, I am not using it so I can not be sure but I believe they still have the bank problems which means you can not deposit and withdraw fiat with ease.

[Svelto]

I agree that traders are able to make money by taking advantage of the price gap between exchanges. But there are risks involved, one of them is the transfer time, the price might changed by the time the transfer is completed.

[Inkdatar]

My experience doing arbitrage when the time of transferring the coin took time to complete in the exchange. The one advantages of this arbitrage is the profit you can get when you grab this opportunity. So in this scenario it is risky and you have to accept what may the outcomes by doing arbitrage.

[taktik]

My experience doing arbitrage when the time of transferring the coin took time to complete in the exchange. The one advantages of this arbitrage is the profit you can get when you grab this opportunity. So in this scenario it is risky and you have to accept what may the outcomes by doing arbitrage.

in my opinion only the person who has been engaged in this for quite a long time will be able to overcome the shortcomings of the process, but it is better not to arbitrate for arbitration. Or am I wrong? At least I bypass this field of activity.

[alani123]

I am not sure what other ways there would be to actually perform this in order to profit, but wouldn't doing arb with existing balances on exchanges work in a similar fashion than waiting for the funds to be deposited?